Review: Crazy for Love, Victoria Dahl

Known worldwide as “Bridezilla”, Chloe Turner just wants to get away from it all.  Her former fiance faked his death to get away from her – meaning that she not only grieved for him but was forced to face the extremes to which he’d go to cancel their wedding.  So her friend Jenn takes her to Virginia for a much needed beach holiday, where they meet the Sullivan brothers.  Max Sullivan is afraid of almost everything and has a need to keep everyone safe; he’s drawn to Chloe and finds himself sharing his secrets with her almost immediately.  Will he be pleased when he learns that the infamous Bridezilla is keeping secrets from him?

This was a fun, fast read that would be perfect for the beach or a lazy afternoon.  Though the characters are somewhat tortured in various ways, their dialogue is snappy and it’s very easy to care for them.  There are simultaneous love stories running in the book, but it’s really much more about Chloe and Max; the secondary love story provides a foil and another angle to the main romance.

I liked especially that Chloe and Max were both a little crazy, which I felt meant that they’d suit each other quite well.  Max is a control freak, convinced that someone is going to die under his watch.  He’s been responsible since his father left when he was very young and he just can’t turn off that responsibility.  He stresses about diving, driving, fires, and even night time swimming, which is apparently very dangerous.  I think he would have driven me mad, but his extra attention is perfect for Chloe, who seems mostly normal.  It’s the paparazzi that have driven her mad and made her paranoid, and Max provides an oasis of calm in the middle of the storm her life becomes.

If there was anything I didn’t like about the book, it would have to be the in detail love scenes; Dahl’s books seem to be on the racier side, so it’s worth warning potential readers.  You may like that, but I am not the biggest fan, especially when the hero and heroine hop into bed without much preamble.  I did feel that their relationship grew over the course of the book, and would have done so anyway without these particular scenes.

Overall, I enjoyed this more than I did Victoria Dahl’s last effort, and I went forth and purchased a historical by her on my Kindle almost immediately after finishing this.  So Crazy for Love was a success for me, and if you like contemporary romance, it may be with you as well.

I am an Amazon Associate. I received this book for free for review through Netgalley.